The former Florida State defensive lineman spoke Tuesday as he made the trip back to Tallahassee where he will resume training for the school’s March 19 pro day, which marks the last of his group workouts for NFL personnel. Having the combine in his rearview mirror is the first big step toward wooing scouts with his ability and personality.

“It’s kind of a relief because it’s something I had been thinking about since the end of the season,” Dawkins said. “The combine was all that was on my mind going to work out every day there was a lot of pressure trying to be ready.

“It definitely feels good to get that process out of the way and do well at it. I’m feeling pretty good and satisfied with what I did, but I definitely can improve on some things and it’s still a grind and there’s so much more I can do so I’ve got to keep on working.”

Dawkins had prepared for the combine, which features several days of on- and off-the-field tests and interviews with interested franchises, at the famed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and was more than happy with the results. After being officially measured at 6-foot-2, 292 pounds, Dawkins went out and bested his times and numbers in the main categories.

The big man was officially clocked at 5.06 in the 40-yard dash and pumped 23 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press. He posted a vertical jump of 30 inches while his broad jump measured 8 feet, 6 inches.

“It was a great experience for me and I thought I did great in getting a lot of my personal records,” Dawkins said. “Two weeks before I had done 21 reps on the bench and ran a 5.18 in the 40. My vertical was up 3 inches and what I’m hearing about my field work I did a pretty good job and thought I did great in the position drills. Hopefully all this will help boost my stock up a little bit.”

The combine’s long array of being poked and prodded by various medical personnel, breaking down film with NFL coaches and being verbally grilled by NFL teams before even stepping on the field was cause for some very long days and evenings. The process began at 6 a.m. every morning and bedtime didn’t arrive until close to midnight throughout the process.

“It just felt great, although it was very tiring,” Dawkins said. “I got to meet a lot of new guys and see some that I hadn’t talked to in a while. It’s definitely something you want to go through as a football player and it’s just a great experience.”

The 22-year-old met with close to 10 teams after having done around 15 interviews previously during his week at the Senior Bowl. He mentioned receiving especially encouraging interest from the 49ers, Rams, Redskins and Panthers while acknowledging the process can be such a blur that some of it all started to blend together.

“Some teams definitely showed a lot of interest saying they’d watched film on me and they liked the way I approach the game and the way that I play,” Dawkins said.

He was so pleased with the majority of his stats that he might skip doing some of the basic drills over again at the FSU pro day and let his current numbers speak for themselves. The final steps after pro day involve individual workouts with the most interested teams prior to the draft, held April 25-27.

<p>Former Byrnes star Everett Dawkins can rest a little easier now, albeit not for long, after completing the draining NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis where he arrived on Friday.</p><p>The former Florida State defensive lineman spoke Tuesday as he made the trip back to Tallahassee where he will resume training for the school's March 19 pro day, which marks the last of his group workouts for NFL personnel. Having the combine in his rearview mirror is the first big step toward wooing scouts with his ability and personality.</p><p>“It's kind of a relief because it's something I had been thinking about since the end of the season,” Dawkins said. “The combine was all that was on my mind going to work out every day there was a lot of pressure trying to be ready.</p><p>“It definitely feels good to get that process out of the way and do well at it. I'm feeling pretty good and satisfied with what I did, but I definitely can improve on some things and it's still a grind and there's so much more I can do so I've got to keep on working.”</p><p>Dawkins had prepared for the combine, which features several days of on- and off-the-field tests and interviews with interested franchises, at the famed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and was more than happy with the results. After being officially measured at 6-foot-2, 292 pounds, Dawkins went out and bested his times and numbers in the main categories. </p><p>The big man was officially clocked at 5.06 in the 40-yard dash and pumped 23 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press. He posted a vertical jump of 30 inches while his broad jump measured 8 feet, 6 inches. </p><p>“It was a great experience for me and I thought I did great in getting a lot of my personal records,” Dawkins said. “Two weeks before I had done 21 reps on the bench and ran a 5.18 in the 40. My vertical was up 3 inches and what I'm hearing about my field work I did a pretty good job and thought I did great in the position drills. Hopefully all this will help boost my stock up a little bit.”</p><p>The combine's long array of being poked and prodded by various medical personnel, breaking down film with NFL coaches and being verbally grilled by NFL teams before even stepping on the field was cause for some very long days and evenings. The process began at 6 a.m. every morning and bedtime didn't arrive until close to midnight throughout the process.</p><p>“It just felt great, although it was very tiring,” Dawkins said. “I got to meet a lot of new guys and see some that I hadn't talked to in a while. It's definitely something you want to go through as a football player and it's just a great experience.”</p><p>The 22-year-old met with close to 10 teams after having done around 15 interviews previously during his week at the Senior Bowl. He mentioned receiving especially encouraging interest from the 49ers, Rams, Redskins and Panthers while acknowledging the process can be such a blur that some of it all started to blend together.</p><p>“Some teams definitely showed a lot of interest saying they'd watched film on me and they liked the way I approach the game and the way that I play,” Dawkins said.</p><p>He was so pleased with the majority of his stats that he might skip doing some of the basic drills over again at the FSU pro day and let his current numbers speak for themselves. The final steps after pro day involve individual workouts with the most interested teams prior to the draft, held April 25-27.</p>